Royal Salute! This is an era where vendors of products and services are treated as pests! More so if you happen to be in the IT products and services and on top of it if you work in a city like Bangalore. IT vendors are considered as necessary evils. A colleague of mine and I had to visit a very well known educational institution on the outskirts of Bangalore. We checked in at the appointed time and we were asked to seat and wait for a few minutes. The few minutes were almost turning to an hour. I repeatedly kept asking the receptionist if the person whom we wanted to meet has been informed of our meeting. She confirmed that the person who we wanted to meet has been informed. This was close to lunch time. We waited for a further half an hour and I again got up and went to the receptionist and this time I told her that I will speak with the person myself. She said she will call and she did. There was some conversation and she put the phone down. Sir, Mr...needs some more time to finish some important work related to finance and he cannot meet you just now. He will positively meet you after lunch. And lunch has been arranged for the two of you at our restaurant and you can go there. She asked one of her assistants to accompany us to the restaurant. My colleague and myself were surprised at this offer and we exchanged glances. Since this institution is located very far from the city, we decided we will take the offer and meet the customer later. The chaperone took us to the restaurant which was located on the fifth floor and he left us at the door. As soon as we opened the door, we were shocked at the opulent interiors. It reminded me of the bygone British era where the high heeled wined and dined! It resembled a regal ballroom! And the furniture were all decked up and the dining table cloth was pressed and looked very elegant. The table and chairs were made of some expensive wood, maybe mahogany or even rosewood. A waiter in a striped trouser and brilliant white shirt with clean hand gloves ushered us to a particular table and made us seat with utmost courtesy. It took us a long time to adjust to this courteousness and also the regal experience. The waiter, again with utmost courtesy, introduced himself and handed over menu cards and explained that the restaurant serves Indian food. As we were glancing at the menu, he politely interrupted us to find out if we needed any help with the menu. I was too excited to choose from the menu and requested the waiter to suggest what we could eat. He suggested us to try some dishes and asked us what kind of bread we prefer. I mentioned something common to both of us. After the waiter left, another server came and laid the cutlery and the plates in front of us. I dont think I have seen more expensive cutlery and plates than those. He brought two glasses and poured water from a silver jug. We were served starters, salads, main course and a dessert. Food was nothing to write home about but since the experience was one of regal, we still enjoyed the meal. For an hour or so, we were taken to another level of dining experience. At some point in time, I was also worried, if the bill was too high. When all those things were working on my mind, a suited and booted gentleman came to our table and he introduced himself as the Head of the Department of Hotel Management and the people who served were final year students, who are being trained as waiters. He wanted us to rate our experience and I gave it a 10 on 10, not just because of the royal treatment we got but because we never had to pay for the meal. But, vendors still continue to be treated as pests, and then there are exceptions! Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivoham Phanibhushan Sharma
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:24:21 +0000
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